Girl improving, firefighters had delicate rescue

CARLSBAD -- A 10-year-old girl impaled on a steel rod Tuesday
night in front of City Hall continues to improve and was listed in
fair condition Thursday evening, hospital officials said.

Coral Pope, the daughter of the city's aquatic director,
remained at Children's Hospital Thursday following surgery to
remove an 18-inch piece of rebar that was impaled in her back near
her spine.

Thursday, Carlsbad firefighters who worked to free the girl and
keep her stabilized during the hour-long ordeal, discussed the
delicate rescue.

Firefighter Paramedic Carl Heimaster was the first paramedic to
get to the girl shortly before 9 p.m. at Carlsbad City Hall and
established contact with Coral to try to calm her down, fire Capt.
Jim Torretto said.

Coral was apparently walking around a landscaping area when she
lost her balance and slipped under or around the metal handrails
near the front steps and fell 4.5 feet, landing on her back on a
sprinkler head supported by a piece of rebar.

The adults around her were unnerved as would be expected in this
kind of trauma, Torretto said. Coral was also much more anxious
initially before Heimaster was able to talk with her and brought
her a teddy bear from the ambulance to hold, he said.

While Heimaster talked to her, another paramedic checked on her
medical condition. And ultimately, some 16 other firefighters were
involved in the rescue effort as well as some police officers, he
said.

Though Heimaster does not have children of his own, Torretto
said that he did an excellent job of connecting with Coral.

"He did a bang-up job of trying to keep her calm, reassuring
her, explaining to her what was taking place," Torretto said.

He said explaining the situation to patients is one of the most
important things paramedics do in the field. They let patients know
they will be hearing a lot of noise from their equipment or feeling
vibrations.

Torretto said children especially can be amazingly stoic in
these kind of situations. Although, certainly there were some times
during the somewhat lengthy rescue that Heimaster had to comfort
Coral when she experienced pain, he said.

"It was a very delicate (rescue) operation because (the rebar)
was so near her spinal cord," Torretto said. "It was very slow and
methodical and we kept checking her vital signs."

He said they were lucky that she remained stable through the
ordeal or they might have had to do things more abruptly.

Rescuers debated trying to cut the rod but decided against it
because their equipment would only cause a jarring movement and
heat that could cause further damage, possibly paralysis, he
said.

Coral also had to endure firefighters cutting back a large bush
and a hedge near the planter box in the beginning to give them room
to work. They covered her face with a blanket to keep debris from
getting to her.

Meanwhile, students in Coral's fifth-grade Magnolia Elementary
class were writing letters to her this week to send to the hospital
and keep her spirits up, a school secretary said. The school also
sent a balloon bouquet and the Parent Teacher Association sent
flowers to her.